The Last Two Episodes
by midnightstylus
Summary: (Lizzie Bennet Diaries) Speculative description of how the final two episodes of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries series might go.
1. Episode: Someone's Seriously Displeased

The video opens in Lizzie's room, showing a very, very subdued Lizzie. "Hey," she greets the audience rather lamely. Clearly, something is up. "Um..." she begins. Her tone is shaky and uncertain. "Okay, you know how sometimes, the camera captures things...unexpectedly...and I end up putting them in my videos anyway?" She looks away from the camera for a moment. "Well, that kinda happened again recently, and this time, it was really..." she shakes her head disbelievingly, "...overwhelmingly...bizarre. On a whole bunch of levels. Not to mention, kind of...scary. And _completely_ embarrassing." Her gaze wanders again, then moves back to the camera. "And actually, for a while there, I was totally planning to bury the footage completely. But the thing is that I was sort of...threatened. For no actual real reason. By someone who even knew that she was being filmed at the time." Her eyes widen, and she bites her lip. "And now I'm thinking that I _do _need to show that footage, to prove to...well, the world, really...that I haven't actually done anything wrong."

She takes a deep breath. "My name is Lizzie Bennet...and I'm just trying to protect myself here."

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries theme song plays, with its usual logo animation. When we return to the video, the camera is definitely not in its usual place; instead of the shelves and door of Lizzie's bedroom, or the walls behind her desk at Pemberley as a backdrop, we instead see greenery - what looks like a hedge, with overgrown grasses sticking out of it haphazardly.

"Hey, Internet," comes Lizzie's usual vivacious greeting. "Bit of a change of scene today! I'm treating myself a bit. I just finished my report on Pemberley, so I'm on vacation until my next placement, and I thought I would celebrate by filming outside, since the weather's really fantastic today."

She gestures about, looks around at her surroundings a bit. "I used to come here and play a lot when I was a kid. It's just a little spot at the side of our house; lots of overgrown pretty...ish...wildernessy bits...the plants smell nice, it's a good place to hang out when you just want a little priv...a...cy..."

She trails off, her eye caught by something to her side, offscreen.

"Is that a _Rolls _driving down our street?" she exclaims.

A pause.

"Is it turning into _OUR _driveway?!"

She sits up straight, looking increasingly horrified as the scene, invisible to the camera, unfolds before her eyes.

"Oh god..." she mutters finally. "It's Catherine De Burgh!"

Lizzie looks back to the camera, clearly at a total loss. "Why is she coming _here_?!"

Her eyes suddenly focus away from the camera to a point beyond. The muffled sounds of raised voices can be heard, presumably from within her house. Lizzie's eyes dart back to the camera, now clearly a bit panicked. "Oh god...I think...she's coming...out..._here_..."

A cut, and then a cultured, imperious, unamused voice sounds clearly, from rather close by. "Eliza."

Lizzie rises quickly, pushing her head out of the frame. "Ms. De Burgh...what a...surprise...uh...I'm just filming here..."

"Yes, yes," Catherine's voice cuts in. The footage wiggles annoyingly and a loud tap-tap is heard as Catherine drums her perfectly-manicured fingernails on top of the camcorder impatiently. "I came to speak with you on an important matter." The snooty intonations of her voice are extremely familiar to anyone who's ever heard Lizzie's imitations of the woman; clearly Lizzie's talent at mimicking others accurately extends beyond Darcy.

"Oh...kay...?" comes Lizzie's response.

"I'm sure you know why I am here," Catherine opens confidently.

Lizzie sinks back into her chair, evidently much confused. "Um...no?"

"Oh, _please_," is the haughty reply. "There is no advantage to be gained from playing dumb with _me_, Eliza." As the confusion on Lizzie's face deepens, now beginning to be tinged with irritation, Catherine continues. "At any rate, _I_ prefer to be open and honest in my dealings with others, so I shall speak plainly. A rumour has arisen within the media industry that _you_," the emphasis on the pronoun clearly not intended to be complimentary, "have received, from my nephew, the offer of a job at Pemberley. A very senior position within the company! Naturally, given your total lack of any _meaningful _work experience, the rumour is that such an offer could only have come because you are..." here there is a pause, punctuated only by harsher breathing from Catherine and widening eyes from Lizzie, "sleeping with my poor nephew," she finishes, with utter distate in her tone.

At this last, Lizzie goes instantly white as a sheet, and there is a distinctly uncomfortable silence. It is broken only by Lizzie's pathetic attempt at speech: "Wh...uh...are you...serious?"

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know about this," scorns Catherine. "I'm sure _you _must have been the source of this rumour, so that you could appear well-connected and sought-after as a job prospect! Tsk," she chides patronizingly, "the desperation some people have, the lengths they will go to in order to find employment. At any rate," she resumes, "I am here to insist that you recant your story, and set about squashing this rumour at once!"

Lizzie's mouth has been getting progressively tighter with every sentence out of Catherine's mouth, and she retreats into the mood her long-time viewers will have no problems recognizing as "cold fury".

"I don't believe I can help you there."

"What?!" comes the enraged response, and with a furious rustling, Catherine moves around briskly to stand in front of the camera, looming commandingly over Lizzie, who leans back in surprise. Catherine's head is out of the frame, but her torso, clad elegantly in what is obviously an incredibly expensive suit, quivers with indignation. "How dare you. Just last week, your younger sister barely managed to escape a prison sentence! You come from a family on the brink of financial ruin! You have no previous employment to speak of, you don't even have a graduate degree, and yet you seek to rise above yourself by conniving for a position in a high-profile media company far beyond your capabilities? My nephew may enjoy the sight of a pretty face and," with a dismissive gesture at Lizzie's cute little top, "some overexposed decollatage, but if you think for one moment that he would condescend to sleep with the likes of you, let alone allow his personal life to influence his choice of employees? You are _gravely _mistaken. The staff of Pemberley will not be tarnished by the addition of slutty trash!"

Pushed beyond endurance, Lizzie leaps to her feet. "How dare you?" she shouts. "Could you possibly be any more insulting? And not just to me, but to Darcy, who is perfectly capable of making his own decisions for his own company, _and _his own love life!" Upon realising that she's mentioned "Darcy" and "love life" in the same sentence, Lizzie reddens slightly and falters, subdued. Catherine wastes no time pressing her advantage.

"He is my _nephew_ - I have _every _right to ensure that he is not taken advantage of by conniving young women such as yourself. Now once and for all, has he made you a job offer?"

Despite the fact that both women's heads are now offscreen, it is clear that they are glaring at each other. Finally Lizzie states, with as much pride as she can muster, "No, he has not."

Catherine's body relaxes slightly. "And are you sleeping with him?"

Lizzie's own body seems to slump slightly; she sinks back into her chair. Looking down at her lap, she replies, "No, I am not."

Catherine relaxes even further with satisfaction. "And you will promise me that neither of those things will ever happen," she states imperiously.

Lizzie's expression hardens again; her glance flickers briefly towards the camera with a mixed expression of embarrassment, guilt, and irony. Then she takes a deep breath and looks back confidently and angrily at Catherine. "I will make NO such promise," she says clearly.

The reaction of Catherine's body language is pronounced; she starts. Then, leaning towards Lizzie her tone becomes soft and deadly. "I see. So this is your final answer. Well then, I will know how to act. I will exert the full scale of my influence to ensure that you are kept out of the industry entirely. Your name will be mud, and there is _certainly_ no way you will ever receive _any _references from me."

And with this, Catherine spins on her heels and walks right out of the frame, leaving Lizzie shaking with fury and fear. Slowly she swivels in her chair to face the camera again, and takes a deep, steadying breath. She looks like she is about to say something, but then thinks better of it with a little shake of her head. Wordlessly, she reaches forward to turn off the camera.


	2. Episode: A Meeting of Minds

The Lizzie Bennet who greets the camera today is not the vivacious Lizzie, nor the snarky Lizzie, nor the seething Lizzie, nor the sad Lizzie that we've seen in varying degrees of frequency throughout her videos thus far. Today, Lizzie is uncharacteristically calm and content, but also serenely amused, as if she has a tremendous secret that she's keeping under wraps. She takes a breath and opens her mouth, then thinks better of whatever she's thought of saying, and tries again. After a few repetitions of this behaviour, she laughs and shakes her head. "Forget it," she tells the camera happily. "There's no way to open this episode that will do it justice." Something very close to a giggle escapes her mouth. "My name is Lizzie Bennet...and...I bet you're all going to just loooove this."

The theme song and animated logo follow this cryptic statement, before bringing us back to Lizzie, dressed in a different outfit. "Good morning, Internet!" she sings out from her usual spot in her bedroom. "Today is Saturday, and I decided to record today, because..." her whole body seems to wilt a bit, "...I don't really have anything else to do." She utters a self-deprecating little laugh. "Well, Bing's coming by any second now to pick up Jane for a whole weekend of 'Jingy bliss', and Charlotte's out of town, of course, so what am I supposed to do, hang out with _Lydia_?" More laughter. "So, to keep myself from going stir-crazy, I thought I'd just turn on the camera, and see if I can work up the nerve to-"

Her monologue is interrupted by a timid little knock. Behind Lizzie, her door opens a crack and Jane's face peeps timidly in. "Hey, Lizzie..."

Lizzie smiles and swivels happily around. "Hi, Jane, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing," comes the perpetually cheerful voice, peeking into the room a bit further. "It's just that Bing's probably going to show up any minute now, so I wanted to say goodbye before I head out!"

Lizzie grins back briefly at the camera before looking at Jane again. "Aw, that's so sweet of you! Well, I hope you and Bing have a _wonderful _time!"

"Thanks, Lizzie!" chirps Jane.

As her older sister starts to withdraw her head and leave, Lizzie says, "Oh, wait, Jane?"

"Yes?"

"Can you just make sure to close the door all the way before you go? I don't want Mom barging in unexpectedly."

"Oh, Mom's not here," Jane tells her.

"She's not?"

"Nope!" comes the chipper reply. "She and Dad and Lydia went out to a movie. And I think they're going to have lunch at a restaurant afterwards. And maybe shopping later. They'll be out most of the day."

Lizzie looks back at the camera for a moment, frowning confusedly. "Wait...Mom? Went out with Dad? And _Lydia_? Really?"

"Yep! I think Mom and Dad are trying to...you know...bond with Lydia more, strengthen the parent-daughter relationship, make her feel better about herself, give her motivation to stay out of trouble. All good stuff, y'know?"

"Yeah..." Lizzie replies slowly, favouring the camera with another surprised glance. "Yeah, I guess...that _is_ really good." She and Jane share a fond smile. "Well, in that case," Lizzie says, her tone upbeat, "why don't you leave the door wide open when you go?" She turns back around to the camera, looking amused. "We've never been able to do _that_ before!"

In the distance, a doorbell sounds. Jane looks around. "Oh, that'll be Bing!" she says excitedly. "Gotta go! Bye, Lizzie!"

"Bye!" waves Lizzie. "Have a great time!" She turns back to the camera as Jane leaves. "So, where was I?" she asks rhetorically. "Oh yes." She sobers. "I was trying to work up some courage. Right." She takes a deep breath. "Well, um, Lydia kind of let something slip that she said she wasn't supposed to, and I ended up finding out the truth about how she got bail money and really good legal defence, and..." Lizzie takes another deep breath, this one slower and stronger. There's a short pause as you can see her mind trying to work out what to say. At this point, though, behind her, a man walks in to stand in her open doorway. His head, naturally, is too high up for the camera to see who it is, but he's wearing suspenders...and the bottom tips of a bowtie are visible near his neck. You can see his chest rise with breath as he prepares to speak, but Lizzie, unaware of his presence, resumes talking first.

"I really, _really_ need to express a _lot_ of gratitude," she says, "and...well...eat a lot of crow." She laughs at herself again.

The man behind her takes advantage of this pause in her monologue to make his presence known. "Lizzie," he says, softly but firmly.

Lizzie's reaction is electric. Her eyes fly wide open, and she jumps in her seat, shooting one quick, horrified look at the camera before spinning around. "Darcy! How...what are you doing here?"

One of Darcy's hands open in what might be an apologetic gesture, as he says, "I came with Bing when he came to pick up Jane. She said I could come in and see you." His tone intensifies as he clarifies, "I wanted to see you."

"Oh," Lizzie says, still dumbfounded.

"May I...come in?" he asks courteously.

"Of...of course," she replies. The look she gives the camera as she swivels back round to face it is unmistakenly of the deer-in-the-headlights variety.

Darcy, meanwhile, pulls up another chair and sits beside her. Once seated, his glance falls on the camera. The classic oh-god-you're-filming eyebrow quirk occurs, but this time, his mouth twitches as well, possibly with - could it be - amusement? "You're filming," he says, but with far less irony in his tone than the audience is used to hearing.

Lizzie can't help but let out a chuckle. "Yes," she says sheepishly.

Darcy actually smiles slightly and turns his gaze back to her. "I...suppose I don't really mind," he says, with a steadying breath, and a possibly tender look.

Lizzie misses his expression, though, because she's looking down at her lap, taking a steadying breath of her own. She also misses seeing him try to start speaking, and unknowingly interrupts him by looking up suddenly and bursting forth with what she wants to say. "Darcy, I...I really have to tell you..." He swallows as her earnest eyes meet his. "I can't begin to thank you enough for everything you did for Lydia. There really are no words...what you did was so...amazing. I still can't believe it."

Darcy's answering expression is a combination of embarrassment and dismay. "It actually wasn't my intention that you should ever find out about that."

Lizzie's mouth quirks. "Yes, well, Lydia's unfortunately not the best at keeping her mouth shut. She told me about the bail money...and the lawyer...and how you managed to persuade George to tell the police the truth about her involvement by arranging to get him off on a lesser sentence."

Darcy looks somewhat uncomfortable throughout all this, glancing uneasily at the camera now and then. "I suppose I should have remembered that discretion is not one of her...strengths." After a blink, he hurriedly adds, "That isn't meant to be an insult-"

Lizzie gives him a deeply amused smile. "Oh trust me, I'm not going to take offence at anyone saying that Lydia isn't the silent type." As Darcy smiles back, she presses her point. "But really...it was the most incredible thing to do, especially since it meant having to deal again with _George_...I know how hard _that _must have been for you," she admits in a low voice. "And believe me, if the rest of my family knew the truth, they would be just as grateful as I am."

Darcy stiffens a bit, looking awkward. Finally, he meets Lizzie's eyes again. "Well, I...I'm not really concerned with anyone else's..." There is a pause, during which the intensity of his gaze deepens. "Lizzie, you must know that everything I did...I did to make _you _happy."

The ensuing pause is extremely long, and Extremely Meaningful. They continue to stare at each other, each person's breath starting to come just a little bit faster. Finally, Darcy breaks the silence and the gaze by glancing down.

"I didn't come here for thanks, Lizzie," he tells her quietly. "I came because I saw your last video, with my aunt's...atrocious behaviour." He makes a grimace of disgust as Lizzie tenses in anticipation of his reaction to _that_. "On the one hand, watching that was horrendous. I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am for how she treated you." He looks back up at her, his look entreating. Lizzie seems relieved. She smiles and shakes her head, probably to assure him that she doesn't consider him responsible for Catherine's actions, but he continues before she can say anything. "But on the other hand, when you refused to promise her-" His look becomes very intense. "I have to know," he says, a little desperately. "Do you still feel...the way you did...at Hallowe'en? Please tell me, I can't stand not knowing anymore." He swallows again as his voice drops to a shyer, more confessional tone, light years apart from the arrogant confidence that accompanied his first declaration of love. "My feelings haven't changed at all. Except...to become even stronger," he adds.

Lizzie lets out a quick exhale. A dozen different reactions seem to steal over her face at once, and her eyes are suddenly glistening. Finally she lets out a tender smile, and reaches up a hand to touch Darcy's cheek. "Will..." she says softly.

Darcy inhales sharply at the physical contact and the use of his first name, and unconsciously leans closer to her.

Lizzie begins shaking her head slowly, disbelievingly, and she slides her hand past his cheek to tangle itself in his hair. She, too, leans closer in, pulling him until their foreheads are touching. "My feelings are _completely _the opposite of what they were," she whispers against his lips.

With an inarticulate noise, Darcy lets out the breath he'd been holding, and moves his head forward just that one inch it needs, so that his mouth reaches hers. Their kiss is somehow strong, soft, slow, frenzied, passionate and tender all in one. It seems to go on forever. Their hands both reach up to tangle in each other's hair until finally Darcy pulls her head back to rain kisses down her jaw and neck. Gasping, she pulls her head back up to meet his mouth again, but her eyes land on the camera first and she utters a surprised and embarrassed, "Oh!"

Darcy mistakes this for an expression of pleasure and continues his loving assault on her throat. This is clearly extremely distracting for her, but she eventually manages to gasp out, "Camera! I should turn it...off!"

He immediately withdraws and turns to the camera with a wide-eyed look of shock. Gazing back at her, he says, breathlessly and meaningfully, "Yes. _Please_."

She laughs and reaches out to the camera. The last thing the audience sees before the screen go black is her not-so-apologetic glance for her viewers, and her free hand reaching back behind her to tug off Darcy's bowtie.

_Fin._


End file.
